What If?
by LadyMeringue
Summary: Circumstances and fate are two things that never work to our accordance. Often, we hear ourselves cry and crib about what if the situation was different, or what if our fate could be altered? Abhijeet was no different. Only, this time, his situation was.
1. Chapter 1: Survivor's Guilt

**Chapter 1: Survivor's Guilt**

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**A/N: Hey guys! Guess I'm back sooner than I imagined myself to be. :P **

**Well anyways, this story deals with the aftermath of Behrupiya. This once again, will sort of be an AU, and also this story will be containing a special element that I've been yearning to try out for ages now. But that special element will only be revealed next chapter. :D**

**The story will be a tri-chapter one. :D I had this idea almost towards the ending of Tryst with Destiny and I needed to pen this down as soon as I could.**

**Not keeping you'll any longer now. ;)**

**Happy Reading! :D**

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Abhijeet sat in the living room, reading a magazine. Even though he flipped through the pages with a mild interest on his face, his mind was far away from the various gossip and spice filled columns of the magazine. His mind was once again lurking into the realms of the past, but this past was different. This was not the usual past he had to endure, and in a way was completely fed up enduring. No. This was a very recent past, the past of the previous week where he had lost his best friend, only for him to be returned back to him after a couple of hours, unscathed and miraculously alive.

This wasn't just a usual case of kidnapping and it's immediate after effects. No again. This was the case where Death had thwarted them all, despite their meticulous efforts to keep it at bay. _Almost_ thwarted. Daya had managed to escape Death's vice-like grip only to return back to the mortal world, into the happy arms of the only place he had called home, and the only people he called family.

But that was not what disturbed Abhijeet that much. What disturbed him was the fact that Death had been there for him, and his best friend had thrown himself into harm's way and steered trouble towards himself. It was not as though he, himself, had steered his way out of trouble. He was tortured badly for a week, barely any food, not the mention the _adorable_ living conditions he was made to stay in. Most of the people would have cracked within a day or two, but not _him_.

But was that any use at all? All his resistance brought about was pain and suffering to his nearest and dearest, not forgetting the fact that his best friend had to endure much more in order to prove his innocence and stand up for the truth. But there was something more to this affair. Characteristic of him, guilt was the main emotion that coursed through him, followed by deep, resentful loathing towards the people who had caused such chaos in their life. But the guilt he felt was not the usual one. It was more of survivor's guilt.

But along with this hint came a new question, the only question and what if situation that his mind kept pressing upon him - what if it was _me_?

He had been putting up an excellent appearance at work, almost as excellent as the one Daya was holding, as though what he had just gone through was something had happened really often and was something he was used to. Abhijeet caught Daya looking wary several times a day, and one or twice, he even found him getting a bit twitchy. Abhijeet himself was facing the exact same issue though the reason was different, yet the post effects being the same, perhaps a bit more twitchy than necessary.

But this was not a temporary PTSD that Abhijeet had been going through. The thought that what if the entire thing had happened to him seemed to have latched itself onto him like a leech, the thought feverishly racing through his mind at every free moment he had. The thought soon became an obsession with him and that thought even interfered with his concentration level at work - a fact not gone amiss by anyone.

It had been a fortnight since Daya had been discharged from the hospital. His vitals had returned to normal, and he was perfectly alright, except for the occasional bouts of ache he felt in his chest when he was doing anything very exertive, during which he would be severely reprimanded by everyone in the Bureau. However, miraculous as it was, the focus had been so much over Daya that for once, in spite of being held captive for over a week, Abhijjet managed to neglect treatment without anyone's attention truly being on it.

Abhijeet had not even got himself any medicines to suffice for the wounds or his vitals but instead followed a blind treatment, having a painkiller two times a day, along with a mix of this ointment and that, all prescribed to him at an earlier time in life. It helped to a certain extent, but Abhijeet still found his body sore and tired from its tough encounters from the previous days, and now somewhere along the lines, he deeply regretted not getting himself any treatment.

He was lost deep in thought, when he put too much pressure on his back, and a painful gasp of pain left his lips. Cursing himself for his lack of attention, he walked up front to the nearest mirror and stared at his reflection. Without his façade at work, he looked ghostly. His eyes had dark circles around it and looked deeply tired. His shoulder had got a hunch, chipped off cut and he practically looked worse for wear.

Contemplating slightly for a few moments, before making his mind up about something, he took off his shirt and turned himself at a 270° position, so that he could see his back as much as his view allowed. His back had a raw-red grid look about it right at the center as though someone had charred the skin by burning. Cringing at the sight of it, he quickly took out an ointment from the drawer below the mirror and started dabbing at his wounds with it, hissing with pain as the wound stung him with all its might.

Putting his shirt on once again, he went and sat back on the couch, his mind wandering over the same dwellings of the previous days. It must have not been more than ten minutes later, when his door bell went off. Surprised at the hour of the call, but convinced that it must be _him_, he quickly reached the entrance door and almost wrenched it open with excitement and fear alike, only to be greeted by a disappointment falling like a brick in his stomach.

For standing at the door was not Daya, but was someone else entirely. In fact, as a matter of fact, Abhijeet was convinced that he had _never_ seen this person before. Giving the person a mildly curious look, he put across his question as politely as he could.

"Yes?"

"Hi, I'm Dr. Jay Bhatia." He pulled out a card from an inner coat pocket and presented it to Abhijeet. The latter took it, without really seeing it, and nodded his head.

"I think you've got the wrong address, I'm not-"

"I'm here on ACP Pradyuman's request."

"Sir's request? _At this hour_?" Abhijeet felt highly surprised. What he should have actually felt was suspicion, but that happened to be the last thing roaming on his mind. He observed the doctor clearly - he must have been a guy in his mid-thirties, with a carelessly handsome look on his face and kind, brown eyes, his body moderately well-built and his height an inch more than his own. There was a very warm and friendly air about the man, and a smile that never seemed to fade.

"Yes, I understand that the timing is rather odd. These are not my usual consulting hours as well. But your boss sent me here because he believes that you've been looking a little… unwell these days and you'd refuse meeting me if he would have told you about this appointment in advance."

Abhijeet felt a frown crease his forehead. But surely, this must be a mistake? This must be a doctor for Daya, not him. And judging by the looks of the doctor, he had the airs of being either a psychiatrist or a general councilor. He now read the card in his hand that read 'Dr. Jay Bhatia, Psychiatrist and General Councilor.' He voiced his thoughts as nonchalantly as he could.

"I really think you've got the wrong address."

"Are you Sr. Inspector Abhijeet?"

"Yes."

"Then I don't think that I've made a mistake." The same smile once again and seemed to disarm Abhijeet's counter-attacks. The smile was getting Abhijeet unnerved, and with half-an irritable jerk, he beckoned him into the house.

"If you want to double-check it with your boss, you're more than welcome to."

"No, I don't think there's a need for that."

Abhijeet could think about a thousand reasons as to what he did was blatant stupidity, but yet his instinct seemed as solid and resolute as ever. Atleast in these many years of duty, he had learnt when to trust his instincts and when to not. This was one of the times when he did. There were a whole lot of things that was wrong with the situation. Abhijeet's hand twitched several times towards his pocket to confirm and double check with his boss, but each time his hand touched the phone, he felt the purpose drain out of him.

For someone as twitchy as him these days, he felt eerily calm at the sight of the new stranger. It was as though he mind was bewitched, put in a trance, where nothing required logic anymore. It had to be, because… well it had to be. Besides, he had been yearning to get all the thoughts out of his head that was eating and chewing his brains inside out, and was so intense that he had altogether now stopped dreaming about his dead mother. And there was no better way to do this than have a professional look you over, even though he detested it.

Beckoning the doctor to take up a place of the couch, he sat on the adjacent armchair. Asking him for refreshments, which the doctor completely refused, Abhijeet and Jay finally took their positions on the couch and chair respectively and gazed at each other in a dignified silence. Breaking the mounting silence after a few moments, Jay spoke.

"Your boss had told me about the entire scenario so you don't need to worry about renarrating it."

"Oh."

"How's your back now? I don't expect there's any improvement in it, but still."

"What?"

It took several minutes for Abhijeet to register the whole question. It was completely wrong. Not the question of course, but the content. For someone who had been here on the request of his boss and was let known the entire scenario, he should not have known about his back at all. Narrowing his eyes at the doctor, whose smile was never wavering, he let slip the question before he knew it had left his lips.

"How do you know about that?"

Jay did not reply at all. Abhijeet glared at him for several minutes, while he tightened the grip over his service gun steadily, but no such opportunity came. Jay looked at him in the same happy manner, as though this question was not caused him any discomfort. After several more minutes of useless waiting, Abhijeet gave up.

"There isn't any improvement." Abhijeet had almost expected him to remove and give him some sort of ointment to help erase the scars on his back, but no such luck. Jay gazed at him with a mild interest now, his fingers interlocked under his chin, which was co-incidentally acting as a support.

"So tell me, what happened with you when you were kidnapped?" The question was expected, yet Abhijeet felt a pain bubbling inside him while recollecting the events.

"When I first regain consciousness, I found myself in a glass chamber along with my service gun. They'd left a bottle of water and some eatables inside. I was left in the same place for three whole days."

"How was the glass chamber? Was it like a room or-?"

"No, it was like an erect coffin." Abhijeet shut his eyes feeling nauseous at the thought of it. Jay was understanding. He proceeded further without dabbling much.

"What happened after three days?"

"They kept me at a warehouse, tied to a chair with a metallic grid. They kept me hungry for two days and tortured me. I got these from there."

This time, Jay did not ask him what had happened. It was pretty obvious that he must have been electrocuted by means of torture for classified information. He proceeded further.

"What happened next?"

"Then they kept me in another room of the same warehouse, but they just tied my hands and feet and left me like that. I had no strength to try to escape any more. I'd nearly given up."

"When did Daya arrive?"

"I think a day or two later. He'd freed me from that prison and I…" Abhijeet shut his eyes in anguish this time. His pain was now quickly turning into boiling pits of anger. "I wish it were me. That bullet had my name upon it, not Daya's. Had I been the one to get shot, Daya would have been spared the suffering. Maybe-"

"Maybe what?" Jay's so far calm expression had now turned into one of shrewd understanding.

"Maybe nobody would have to bear that much. Maybe it's best that I'm not a part of their lives."

"What's wrong what you, Abhijeet? How can you even think like that?!"

"I'm not joking, doctor, but it's the truth."

"Do you really believe this, then?"

"Yes."

Jay looked at him for a good one minute, studying something that was apparently way out of Abhijeet's understanding. And suddenly, as though someone had zapped him back to life, he got back on his guard. It was as though the trance was finally broken. He slapped himself mentally for having behaved so stupidly and for letting a stranger, no less a psychiatrist who was more of a fishy character, enter his house so late in the night. He tried to keep his panic at bay, by keeping a straight face but it was getting difficult by the moment.

Finally sighing, Jay let out a small yawn before saying, "Alright, if this is what you want, so be it."

Jay got up from his place and walked towards Abhijeet, who now seemed to have become rooted on the spot. He tried to get up and run, but his legs wouldn't budge. Jay reached near him and caught one of his shoulders in a vice-like grip, while he removed a pocket-watch from his coat pocket. The moment the cover of the pocket-watch flew open, a blue light flooded the room. While Jay adjusted something over the watch, Abhijeet suddenly felt his world covered in a fusion of sounds and colors, before he felt himself sucked into nothingness.

The living room was now empty.

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**There! :D First chapter done. Well, I decided to leave this on a suitable cliffhanger for more suspense. ;)**

**Well, sorry for any typos and constructive criticisms will be more than welcome! :D**


	2. Chapter 2: The Time Traveller

**Chapter 2: The Time Traveller**

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**A/N: Hey guys! Now, I know that the concept that I'm using here may not appeal to some or it may be too confusing for some to understand, but I've tried and put in my best to make the concept as simple as possible. Reviews here, are going to be very crucial for me, because I sincerely and genuinely want to know whether you guys understand what I've written or no. :) **

**Readers and reviewers, thank you soooooo much for all the reviews and encouragement. This is a real boost for me. :D This story may go up above three chapters, considering that I've left this chapter at a suitable end.**

**Note: The character of Jay has been inspired from the character of Professor Paradox from Ben 10.**

**Not keeping you'll much long, **

**Happy Reading! :D**

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Abhijeet felt his feet touch the ground effortlessly. Looking around, he saw Jay stand before him but his appearance had changed completely. He was no longer in his formal coat-shirt-pant attire but was instead in a shirt and pant, most of which was covered by an overlarge lab coat, while a pair of green goggles was hung from his neck uselessly. Abhijeet felt aghast but more than that, he looked around, downright bewildered.

"What on-?"

"I'll explain."

Jay looked at his pocket watch. Apparently, it after all did serve to see the time apart from emitting that strange blue light.

"Good, we still have time."

Nodding his head with apparent satisfaction, Jay turned his attention towards Abhijeet, who had the same look of bewilderment across his features. But now that the shock of the sudden events had abated a little, Abhijeet looked around. They were in some sort of backstage that looked all the more familiar with each passing second.

"Is this… Is this the same place where _that_ happened?"

"Yes."

"This is impossible."

"What's impossible, Abhijeet?"

"This!" Abhijeet yelled while he pointed his finger at them and around them. And suddenly, Abhijeet could no longer keep constraint over himself. Shaking Jay violently by the collar of his lab coat, Abhijeet spoke harshly.

"What have you done to my mind?! Tell me!"

"I've not done anything to you. I've just made you cross a timestream." When Abhijeet took no sign of leaving his coat, Jay cleared his throat and spoke sincerely.

"Uh, this is my only labcoat and I love this a lot. Please handle this with care."

Abhijeet pushed him away and began pacing the room, trying to push of his anger in some other direction. Checking his coat and nodding happily at the sight of its untarnished state, Jay spoke once again.

"Sit." Abhijeet turned towards Jay and gave him a disgruntled nod before sitting upon one of the cardboard boxes lying about. Jay took a seat on a similar box beside him. When Abhijeet did not begin nor initiate any form of conversation, Jay once again took the lead.

"I'm a time-traveller." The statement sounded so incredulous that Abhijeet snorted out loud.

"Time-travel is a popular _myth_." Abhijeet spoke in a cold tone as though Jay had labeled him 'stupid'.

"That's what everyone thinks." Ploughing on like there was no interruption in the first place, Jay continued. "Have you heard about the 'The Quartz Hunt'?" Abhijeet looked at him in surprise. The question had taken him aback.

"Yes, I've heard a little about it. Wasn't this a project during the British Era?"

"Yes. The quartz production in India was very healthy during those times. The Britishers were finding for a suitable place to intiate this project from a very long time, a place which had ample quartz production."

Abhijeet's curiosity was finally aroused. Even though he could not see how on Earth was the story related to him, he decided to hear him out.

"What kind of project?"

"To build a time-travelling machine. Science has atleast proved so much that time-travel is not only just a myth but it's also possible theoretically. But we don't possess the necessary level of technology for the same and neither the required knowledge. I was made the head of that project."

"But didn't that project fail?" For the first time, Jay's smile faltered. Faltered would be a small word. Jay looked enraged.

"It wasn't a fail."

"Really?" Abhijeet was happy to see that Jay was turning a darker shade of crimson with every passing minute. After a few moments of regaining his composure, Jay now continued in a much calmer tone than his face showed.

"We found healthy quartz mines with the help of which we created the machine. According to the theoretic studies of mainstream physics and time travel, our machine was the perfect device. The British Government had invested a lot of money into it."

"When the British Government learnt of the fact that the intial experiments with stationery objects were a success, during which we managed to displace them into a time field, they gave an approval for the human trials as well. I decided to start upon the human trials with myself."

"What happened on that day?" asked curiously, now genuinely puzzled.

"As usual, I activated the time machine. Everything was perfect. And suddenly, the machine began malfunctioning and everything in that room, including myself, were sucked into the time field. I was stuck in a limbo within the time field from where I couldn't escape, an endless seam of time, where there's no hunger, thirst or need of sleep. You're just alive. And then I stopped ageing. Initially, I went insane but then I learnt to control my madness and began educating myself."

Abhijeet now felt himself turn pale. To imagine being stuck into a limbo, where one is bound to survive for infinity only seemed good in books or movies. But now that he tried to think of it practically, it was insane all together.

"Anyway, the British Government suffered heavy losses and decided to shut down the project."

"What happened then?"

"I guess a hundred or two hundred thousand years later-?"

"_A hundred or two hundred thousand years_? Jay laughed. Apparently, he had found Abhijeet's expression very amusing. However, he let Abhijeet continue. "This accident was eighty years ago, then how-?"

Jay smiled in understanding once again, a huge hint of amusement accompanying it.

"Abhijeet, the time limbo doesn't work like normal time. It works 2500 times faster than the Earth time. So I think you can get a clearer picture of it now."

Abhijeet could not digest any of the information. Not still seeing where this was going to lead, Abhijeet continued the conversation.

"Then what?"

"Time realms aren't restricted to a barrier. You have no idea about the knowledge that time withholds. I began making good use of them and mastered the art of telepathy and telekinesis. Finally after sufficiently making myself knowledgeable, I found a way to leave the limbo. And I was free."

Abhijeet's blank expression now turned into a one of incredulity once again. He was having a hard time believe all the rubbish he was being told. While Jay was narrating his story, Abhijeet had enough time to ponder over the fact that this must be a figment of his imagination, even though somewhere deep down, he knew that it was not the case.

"Don't worry, this isn't your imagination." Abhijeet looked taken aback for a moment, but Jay continued before Abhijeet could find a suitable question. "I've mastered the art of telepathy, remember? I'm bound to know such trivial things."

All of a sudden, Abhijeet felt insecure. From when had Jay been reading his mind after all? After sitting in a painful silence for what must have been an infinitesimal amount of time, Abhijeet finally managed to frame a question.

"But what has this got to do with me?"

"Nothing." Jay now spoke as though Abhijeet had put forward a very ridiculous question. The latter, however, was waiting for this particular answer and sprang up to the occasion.

"Aha! Then why are you here?" Accusation was the prime objective here.

"I've escaping the time limbo, I took to studying alternate timelines. They're really intriguing. You can't even imagine the number of endings a story can have."

Abhijeet turned his face away.

"Time has got a lot of realms to it, Abhijeet, realms that are way beyond the understanding of the human mind. And in response to your question – after studying the timelines, I noticed that people often contemplate about changing their past just because they've been a part of an unfortunate incident and are unhappy with their lives. What they don't realize that it's the present and future than matters, not the past. And it's for this precise reason that I've made it my mission to help such people realize the severity of their actions. And this is why I'm here today."

"So you think yourself to be some kind of an upper power, then?"

"No, but just think of it as this way – every man is born for a reason, and this is my."

Abhijeet was about to retort heatedly when several voices began to ensue from the front stage. He had almost forgotten where he was at that moment. Jay removed the pocket watch from his coat pocket that he replaced back in a matter of seconds. Beckoning Abhijeet forward to stand at a place behind the curtains where everything and everyone were now visible, Jay looked his happy self once again, before exclaiming in glee.

_"Let the show begin!"_

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**A/N: Short chapter, right? I know. But this will have to do for now. I want things to sink in first before I proceed with the next part. :) **

**Sorry for the typos and constructive criticism will be more than welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3: When Past Meets the Present

**Chapter 3: When Past Meets the Present**

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**A/N: Hey guys! :D Seeing the reviews on the last chapter really made my happy. :D I have taken a huge risk with the theme of the story and I'm glad to say that it has paid off. Thank you all sooooo much for the lovely reviews and to all the readers as well! :D**

**Now, as my request in the last chapter, this chapter too gets a bit complicated (basically this whole theme is complicated), so I will need maximum reviews as to how the chapter has turned out.**

**Not keeping you'll any longer,**

**Happy Reading! :D**

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Abhijeet and Jay were now standing side by side at the backstage. Since Abhijeet had missed all the proceedings before his dramatic entry in his past, he was now taking a bit more interest in hearing about the program and the recipients of the awards. Until a very important question occurred to him.

"Is this an alternate timeline?"

"No, this is your own past. I did initially consider taking you to an alternate timeline where you were the one shot in place of Daya but I decided against it. As far as I've been able to surmise your personality, you won't believe anything as long as you don't do the deed with your own bare hands."

Abhijeet couldn't help but smile. Now that his initial shock and disbelief had faded off, he had to admit that this was all for real and not his imagination, and neither was Jay telling him fables. Nodding his head as he saw ACP Pradyuman get on the stage to receive his accolade, he felt Jay remove the pocket watch from his pocket once again. Without warning, Jay pulled Abhijeet's elbow towards him so that they were facing now each other. Shoving the watch in Abhijeet's palm, he exclaimed happily.

"Here, this is yours now."

Abhijeet looked shocked.

"What?"

"Sorry Abhijeet, it's time for me to leave. See you!"

And before Abhijeet could argue back or even so much as feel flustered, Jay disappeared amidst a bright blue light.

The backstage was eerily silent now. Abhijeet look flabbergasted as he stared the pocket watch in his hand blankly. Even before he could get his thoughts straight, he looked outside and saw his decoy climbing the stage. And in that moment, it all struck him so fast that he might have been struck by a lightning bolt. Jay had given him a chance to change the future. And that meant...

Abhijeet quickly ran towards the exit door of the backstage and towards the entrance, where, if indeed this was his already lived past, he would see himself standing right outside the door.

Even though he had thought about the aspect of changing his past or of hoping to have an alternate path route of the past, nothing could have prepared him for it. Panting and heaving as he now stood outside the entrance of the auditorium, he appeared face to face with his past self.

Both Abhijeets gasped simultaneously, the present Abhijeet gasping when he saw his past self, seeing the bad shape he was in, while the past Abhijeet gasped in shock, clearly thinking that he was hallucinating, the reason being him held captive and being tortured for several days.

Abhijeet could see that his past self was finding for something to physically defend and protect himself with.

"You don't need to panic, I'm not here to harm you. I'm from your future." Even while saying it, Abhijeet had a strong urge to laugh.

"Really? So tell me something that only I'm supposed to know," the past-Abhijeet sneered. The present Abhijeet racked his brains for a solid identity proof, but none occurred to him. Funny, how that could happen even with the best of men. Finally bringing his mind to a particular thing, the present-Abhijeet spoke.

"You've been electrocuted." It was the best he could think of at the time. Even till this date, not a single soul knew what had happened to him and he downright refused to indulge in details.

"Which you would know if you are a part of the gang." Two pairs of identical eyes met. Abhijeet knew that time was running out fast and he needed to get the deed done. All of a sudden, he remembered Jay, and wished he was here to help him out. This entire to-be fiasco was his fault for if he had stayed put and not been such a stubborn head, none of this was to happen. But then again, he could not help but run away from the curiosity that was now bubbling within him to know what his altering the past would do.

Abhijeet shut his eyes in desperation. Out of all a sudden, the word telepathy floated in his mind. He needed his past self to understand everything without even divulging any real information. Even though he would never admit it to Jay, but Abhijeet had read several books and novels based on time-travelling because it felt so nice to escape into a world of complications and excitement. And in his knowledge, he knew enough that when anyone embarked on a mission to change his or her past, he or she would and should never let their past selves know their exact plan.

He felt so silly thinking about all of this, when the situation was so serious. And mysteriously enough, these thoughts all flooded his mind within a matter of seconds. And just when things could not get any spookier, they did.

Abhijeet did not know whether his mind was exhausted by this bizarre turn of events, but at that moment, he felt like someone had hooked his skull to something and was tugging at it. Sick pain blinded him for a moment, while an angry shriek of pain left his mouth. And the pain was gone just as soon as it was there.

Opening to see him eyes, he could he that this past self too had the exact same look of shock and he too, was rubbing his temple in the same way. Apparently both of them had the experienced the same curious sensation. Just before any more time could have been wasted however, both Abhijeets could now hear Daya's voice.

Abhijeet once again got his focus back on and spoke in as cryptic a message as he could give.

"When you go inside, you need to be the one getting into a scuffle with Rocky. Don't let Daya get to him first." The past-Abhijeet looked completely rattled and unsure, and was having just as much of a hard time believing what he was seeing as the present-Abhijeet had some time back. However, the past-Abhijeet had no time to retort, as at that moment he saw Daya's signal.

Without giving a backward glance towards the present-Abhijeet, the past-Abhijeet entered the room, while the present-Abhijeet now stood outside the door. He felt desperate. He needed to know whether everything was happening according to plan. He knew that had he been in the place of his past self, he would never have heeded any such advice given to him, and that's what he feared the most.

Then again, he could not just go inside and see for himself. He was obviously not invisible and he knew from his several escapades into time travel books and one simply did not reveal their positions in the past, for it causes severe implications and complications in the time stream. Not that his meddling in the time stream wasn't causing complications, but he had a _justified_ reason.

Abhijeet shut his eyes in desperation. Any moment now, the_ moment _was going to come. He prayed so desperately in his mind.

And then something impossible happened.

_When he opened his eyes, he was no longer standing near the door. He was instead walking inside the auditorium, where a series of shocked yells rented the air. For a moment he panicked, but realization hit him way too quickly. He was not walking there himself, but instead he was seeing into the mind of his past self. The easiest way one could explain this was the way Harry Potter could see into Lord Voldemort's mind, sense his powerful emotion and share the same body in essence._

_He now stood there, his mind raging in a constant battle while all the arguments broke about. Now was the time to decide - should he listen to what his 'future self' said or not? He could not believe that what he had just experienced was true. It was bizarre. But what harm could befall him if he entered into a fight with Rocky, instead of Daya? After all, he had been itching to give his imposter a payback time for all the atrocities that were done to him._

_He made up his mind in a split second. The moment ACP Pradyuman shouted 'Daya!', he did not lung forward towards the fallen gun, but threw himself with all his might over Rocky, and managed to overtake Daya just in time. He and Rocky now got over a scuffle over the gun where everything was obliterated from his mind and all that existed for him now was himself and his imposter. Pushing and hitting, they ended up taking the fight behind the curtain._

_Needless to say, Rocky was very well-built and he found it increasingly difficult to keep a hold over him and to stop Rocky from pointing the trigger towards him. Not to mention the fact that his adrenaline rush was fading away as fast as it had come and he was getting more drained and exhausted by every passing second. And then, the inevitable happened. His grip slacked over the gun for a moment, and Rocky took this to his immediate advantage and fired the gun._

_The entire auditorium fell silent as though someone had struck it dumb. The entire CID Team waited with baited breaths, to see who had been the target of the bullet. And then, he came forward as stumbled through the curtain. For one moment everything felt right, as though the bullet had been misfired. The next moment, however, everything began to crumble._

_A pain such that he had never felt before erupted in his body with such ferocity, it tore him apart. And in that moment, he realized that something was very, very wrong. One look at the face of his colleagues sealed his thoughts, and he looked below. The left side of his shirt was stained red, with the stain only growing bigger and bigger every moment. His hand went up unconsciously to touch the spot where the bullet had hit him, and on retracting his hand, it did not surprise him when he saw it entirely stained red. If he had been honest with himself, he knew it would come down to this ever since his future-self had told him to get into the fight with Rocky, instead of Daya._

_But he no longer had head or tail of what was happening now. He felt himself crash to the ground like a marionette's strings cut. He distantly heard someone's mocking voice and another gunshot go off in the distance, but he did not care. The pain he felt was too overwhelming. He tried to breathe in air, but it only resulted in giving him more pain. He half-gasped and half-sobbed as the pain hit him and took away all his senses, only to replace them with the single feeling of pain, until he felt himself sink into a world of a dark abyss._

* * *

Abhijeet opened his eyes and found himself on his knees outside the front door. His face was wet in tears and he seemed to be heaving as hard as his past-self from a few moments ago. He touched his chest and found it unscathed. Shaking and shivering simultaneously, he got to his feet and looked inside through the crack of the door. All his team mates were in a frenzy and were urging his past-self to keep awake even though they all knew he was unconscious.

Quickly hiding himself away from view behind a pillar as Vivek and Freddy came outside, he looked at their faces. Their faces had lost all pallor and both of them had frightened looks on their face. Abhijeet never realized all these minute details the previous time for he was so involved in saving Daya, the people's emotions around him went amiss entirely.

After what must have been 15 or 20 minutes later, an ambulance arrived on the scene. He saw his past self being carried out by Freddy and Daya, while Vivek brought the stretcher near and together, they managed to put Abhijeet on it without moving him too much.

Even though he tried to convince himself otherwise, he knew that something was completely wrong. He remembered very clearly that when Daya was being put on the stretcher and throughout the trip to the hospital, he was either twitching or gasping, but here, his past-self did not even so much as twitch an eyelid. He was as still as anyone dead could be and his face had a very strange expression.

Abhijeet tore his gaze away from his past self, as he felt steadily horrified by what had happened. He could not understand what had he been thinking when he thought about changing his past or when he thought and felt that he should have been the one in Daya's place.

He could still feel the pain and the butterflies in his stomach when he thought about the sensation of being shot. True, he had been shot thrice or maybe more, but it was never this serious. Even as he saw the ambulance van fading from his site, he felt a strange resentment rise in his chest. He felt as though he had lured his past self into a mess where he did not belong, even though he wanted to spare Daya from the same pain. His own belief in his conviction to change the past was steadily diminishing.

But what he could not understand was how had he managed to live through all this from his past self's mind? True, there were several forms of telepathic connections, but this was different. It was as though they had been sharing the same essence of _body_ and _soul_, and yet he managed to escape this unscathed while his past-self bore the brunt of it.

But that question could wait. Right now, he needed to now see for himself whether his past self would be alright. He obviously couldn't enter the hospital on his own, it would be downright absurd. Before he could think any further, he felt something vibrate in his pocket. Removing it, he saw that the thing vibrating was the pocket-watch that Jay left him.

Opening it, he saw a blue orb on the dial of the watch, which had the time '2:45' at the center. Setting the dial's time to 2:45, Abhijeet locked the stopper of the watch. A moment later, he felt the blue light consume him once again, his world turning into a fusion of colours and sound before getting consumed whole into nothingness, with only one thought left behind.

He, Abhijeet, had after all only changed the person to get shot right? Everything else ought to be same, isn't it?

* * *

**A/N: There! :D I hope that you guys are enjoying this as much as I am while writing it. :D Sorry for the typing errors and constructive criticism will be more than welcome! :D :D**

**Happy New Year guys and may this year bring loads of happiness and prosperity in health and wealth to all of you! Stay happy and stay blessed! :D**

**Now, a bit of bad news too. My college pre-boards will be starting on the 3rd and ending on the 9th, because of which I will start working on the chapter only after the 9th. A big apology in advance and please bear with me. :)**


	4. Chapter 4: A Goner for Good

**Chapter 4: A Goner for Good**

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**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews and views! :Your reviews have been inspirational! D :D Since I had already written most of this chapter yesterday, I decided to post this chapter today itself as an additional New Year bonanza! :D :D **

**Not keeping you'll further now,**

**Happy Reading! :D **

* * *

Abhijeet felt himself appear seamlessly in what was a dark room. Once his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, he found the room familiar. And not just familiar, he had been in this exact room three weeks ago.

Abhijeet realized that the pocket-watch teleported him to the hospital where all the team members were, or to be more specific, the pocket watch teleported him to a now-unused store room in the hospital. The store room provided the perfect view of all his team members either pacing about the corridor or else sitting stationary and praying.

Abhijeet noticed that Dr. Salunkhe was sitting beside ACP Pradyuman and both of them were having a teary conversation. Vivek and Tasha were standing nearby consoling each other and Freddy was satnding with Daya. Freddy was patting Daya's shoulder and let him be after 5-10 minutes, and left from his view, leaving Daya alone.

One look at Daya, and Abhijeet felt afraid. _Really_ afraid. Daya had a murderous look on his face and his eyes had a strangely beastly look about it. It was as though someone had awoken an animal inside him.

Just then, the doctor came out. Everyone rushed towards him and asked him about Abhijeet's health and the doctor had the same reaction that he had given during Daya's time. But what actually took Abhijeet aback was the fact that Daya did not utter a single word at all. Abhijeet had expected him (even though he could not understand why) to cry and plead with the doctor to say that all this was false, that the doctor had to tried enough, but nothing. Daya only asked the doctor one thing in a voice that contained anger.

"Is he awake?"

"Yes, and I'd advice you to meet him as soon as you can."

Daya entered the room without a further word, while all those who remained behind had tears streaming from their eyes. Abhijeet shut his eyes. He did not want to see this anymore. He had wanted to change his past to create a better future, not the replica of it, but only in a worse way. And as though fate had not had enough yet, when Abhijeet once again opened his eyes, he was blinded by the _sterile white_ _light_ of a room.

_Shutting his eyes and blinking it open several times until his eyesight could get accustomed, he looked around. And without a doubt, the smell of medicines and antibiotics greeted him along with the sight of the room. Abhijeet however could not understand what had hit him. He felt as though someone has run over him by a train and the place where he was shot ached him like the punch of an iron-clad fist. And he was hurting. Really hurting._

_Turning his head to one side, he could see all the assortment of instruments he was attached to, while he could feel his right hand covered into something. He felt the oxygen mask attached to his face that was forcing air into his lungs, and yet his body didn't want any. On turning to his other side, without causing as much pain as possible, he turned his head to find Daya sitting on the chair, holding Abhijeet's hand. Both friends locked eyes with each other, before Daya spoke._

_"What have you done?"_

_Abhijeet tried to laugh, but instead, it only resulted in a highly painful spasm in his chest. Heaving in breaths while trying to ease off the offending pain, Abhijeet muttered._

_"This had to happen some day."_

_"But not like this" Daya's eyes were still locked with Abhijeet's, but his hands were now trembling. Daya didn't want to cry, for crying would make their predicament true. Abhijeet would pull through this. He had to._

_"Daya... you need to take care of the Bureau and everyone after me. ACP sir, Freddy... everyone. A lot of responsibility is riding upon your shoulders."_

_"Don't say that!" Daya's tone was harsh, but he did nothing to rectify it. He was in denial of the truth._

_"Nothing is going to happen to you. Even the doctor has said so. So please stop talking like that."_

_Abhijeet smiled at him while tears escaped his eyes. He raised his hand out of Daya's grip and cupped his cheek._

_"Daya, thank you for getting me out of there. I did not want to die there alone, I wanted to be amidst you all when I-."_

_"Abhijeet, please... stay strong, you're going to be perfectly fine." Daya's voice had started to crack now. Daya averted his gaze away from Abhijeet, trying not to break down, while Abhijeet shut his eyes, as another spasm of pain erupted in his chest. To provide a distraction, Freddy entered the room at that moment._

_"Freddy, don't stand there. Come here." Abhijeet tried to gesture him towards the bed as lightly as he could. His time was closing in on him and he knew it. It was essential that he let them all know about how gratified he was with the presence of all of them in his life and how much he truly and genuinely loved them all. His only family. Freddy now took his hand as Daya got up abruptly and stood near the window._

_"Why did this have to happen with you, sir?" Abhijeet looked at Freddy and sighed._

_"I don't know, Freddy... maybe destiny had this written for me."_

_Abhijeet closed his eyes in pain, while Freddy caught his hand close to his face. Abhijeet opened his eyes now with difficulty and saw Daya staring him with such pain that it shattered Abhijeet's heart. He was about to say something when Vivek and Tasha entered the room now._

_Tasha immediately went and took the remaining vacant seat beside Abhijeet, while Vivek stood behind her. Tasha's face was tear-stained and filled with anguish, while her eyes were red and blotchy. She kept her eyes glued to the ground._

_"Tasha." She did not look up._

_"Tasha, look at me." Abhijeet spoke once again. She shook her head._

_"Please?" Tasha finally raised her head, and one look at him and her tears had no restraint._

_"Abhijeet sir... Abhijeet sir...", was all she could stammer and cry. Abhijeet, in turn, squeezed her hand with as much love and affection as he could muster. Abhijeet looked at Vivek, and the two of them shared a silent understanding. Wiping away his tears hastily, Vivek wrapped his arms around Tasha's shoulder and gently lifted her off her seat and took her aside, while she hugged him tightly and broke into another bout of fresh sobs._

_Abhijeet had been controlling himself all this time. He needed to be strong for all of them even in his last moments. He was their solid ground and their north star, which was fading away quickly from them, yet, he had to remain strong, despite the now unendurable pain his body was being subjected to. The painkillers had finally worn off, leaving his body aching fit to burst. But he still had work left. He had not met those two people who had revolved his life around so much. Once he had seen them, then he could go away in peace. Abhijeet highly suspected that it was the only last strand connecting him to life._

_Abhijeet, however, did not have to wait long for at that moment ACP Pradyuman entered the room with Dr. Salunkhe in tow. Freddy got up from his seat and let ACP Pradyuman sit there. Abhijeet tried to smile at his boss, even though his face was more of a grimace. ACP Pradyuman, in return, stroked his hair lovingly._

_"I've spoken to the doctor and he says that you'll be discharged within two weeks, provided you take a strict bedrest of two months." Dr. Salunkhe now caught hold of Abhijeet's hand and rubbed it affectionately._

_"Yes and the doctors have given me a final ultimatum that should you fail to comply with any of these instructions, he'll delay your discharge." Abhijeet shook his head, tears now finally escaping his eyes, while he now took rasping breaths._

_"Sir, I wish you could lie better."_

_ACP Pradyuman looked stricken. It was as though someone had slapped him hard on the face. And then, for the first time, ACP Pradyuman held Abhijeet as close to him as his position could allow without causing the lattert too much pain. Both of them were sobbed as though their lives depended on each other's and as though both of them were being subjected to a lifetime of suffering without the other's presence._

_Throughout the time, ACP Pradyuman could managed to say, "Kuch nahi hoga tumhein... kuch nahi...", which was more of an assurance to him than to Abhijeet. But now that Abhijeet had got his last wish fulfilled, he felt the lights fading away from his vision, while air was no longer able to enter his lungs. Abhijeet was sinking, and death was getting impatient now._

_Abhijeet could now see the blurry silhouette of a now frightened Daya hovering above him, crying out for a doctor desperately, as he clung on to his hand. ACP Pradyuman too, had a mirrored reaction. Both of them were urging him to stay awake, urging him to keep his eyes open, giving him fake promises of going to be able to pull through it even though they all knew otherwise._

_And all of a sudden, Abhijeet found the pain fading away from his body. He felt his head turn light-weighted, as he saw the last glimpses of his loved ones. He felt a funny sensation near his chest, that each time brought about a new spasm of pain, but now his mind was floating free of all thoughts, and his body was almost freed of all pain, when a last gasp left his body, and his head rolled to one side, seeing into nothing._

The entire hospital room was now filled with anguished yells and heartbroken sobs as they had lost today, their colleague, friend, guide, family, but most important of all -_ one of their own_.

* * *

The present-Abhijeet was once again broken free from the mind of his past-self for good this time, but his body no longer supported him. He felt the same pain and anguish course through him as he had felt in the mind and body of his past-self.

He felt his world revolve around him and felt himself crash the ground, his breathing uneven and tears openly escaping his eyes. The images that he had lived through just now were burned on his eyelids, until those memories turned into scalding knives of torture, seeing each and every face of grief and sorrow weeping for him, over his past self's now lifeless form.

He begged his mind for mercy, to spare him the torture, to spare him the mental agony.

Until he knew no more.

* * *

**There! :D I know this is quite short, but this will have to do for now. As I mentioned previously, I will be working on the next chapter only after the 9th, so please bear with me.**

**Krittika, regarding the question you asked me, firstly I must say that it is an excellent question, and I'm glad to see that you've understood the basic scenario. But you will be getting your answer in the next chapter. I chose to answer this after the chapter because I didn't want any spoiler's for the next chapter. ;) :D**

**Now, sorry for the typos and constructive criticism will be more than welcome! :D**


	5. Chapter 5: The Destruction of His Own

**Chapter 5: The Destruction of His Own**

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**A/N: Hey there! :D I know it's been a long time, but thank you all for sticking around with this story. :D The reviews have been good and thank you to all the reviewers and viewers! :D :D**

**Also, I will be posting regular updates as to how the work on the next chapter is going on, on my profile. So that way, yo'll know what's happening. :D**

**Krittika, I hope this chapter answers your doubt, and I hope this chapter removes some bit of confusion for you'll. :D If you'll have any queries on the story, feel free to ask me. :D**

**Not keeping you'll long now,**

**Happy Reading! :D**

* * *

Abhijeet's eyes snapped open. Looking around, he realized that he was sprawled eagle-like on the floor, while his face was covered in a mixture of tears and sweat. Getting to this feet clumsily, he sat down on one of the nearest cardboard boxes that lay there forgotten, and covered his face in his hands. He felt nauseous and disoriented, and his back hurt him worse than ever. His head seared with pain at the slightest exertion and he still felt dizzy.

He could not remember what had happened to him to have caused him such discomfort. Wiping his face on his sleeve, he got to his feet once again, once his sinus had gone down marginally.

_Clunk._

Abhijeet looked down to see a pocket-watch which had fallen out of his hand. He never realized that he had been holding it in the first place. The moment he picked up the watch, however, memories bombarded his mind one after another like a series of flashes from the last few hours, his last memory, or rather, feeling being agonized by the suffering of his loved ones.

_His_ loved ones.

Abhijeet quickly turned around and walked up to the blue curtain that concealed the store room door from view. Pushing the curtain slightly aside, it revealed a door that had a several small circular glasses which could be used as magnified peepholes to see in the next door. What made Abhijeet actually gasp, however, was the fact that the door was connected to the ICU itself, where his past-self now lay dead. He did not understand how he could have forgotten about this fact so easily, considering that he had used the same room as a place of refuge after Daya had finally been brought back to life.

Which reminded him of his current situation. Quickly seeing the time on the pocket-watch, he realized that three hours had elapsed since his passing out. He quickly pressed his head to the glass and saw that everyone were in the same positions like the last time, except this time, instead of Abhijeet, it was Daya standing near a similar circular glass door near the bed side.

If memory served him right, Abhijeet knew that Daya had been revived and had been brought back to life after three hours of his pronounced time of death. Any moment now, and the doctor would enter to complete the formalities. It was as though someone had sparked a small ray of hope within him. May be after all, everything was not lost.

The doctor entered the room after 15 minutes. He handed over the formalities and papers to be filed, and Daya had gotten into an altercation with the doctor for showing lack of respect. In more than several aspects, Abhijeet and Daya had been identical, even in their use of words. It was no wonder why people called them 'brothers by bond'.

But what Abhijeet had his mind and eyes on was Freddy's reaction, for Freddy had been seated in the same way as last time. If fate had it, any moment now, his past-self would show the first signs of life.

_But no such thing ever happened_.

The doctor, with the help of the ward boys, took the past-Abhijeet's body on another stretcher directed towards the mortuary, while slowly, all the officer filed out of the hospital in pairs, each holding the other for support of this staggering truth.

The present-Abhijeet slumped down against the wall. His brain was hammering so hard, it would have exploded any minute. Abhijeet felt like cursing himself. What had he brought upon everyone? Couldn't he have just stayed put and accepted fate as it is? But no, he always was the one to face every challenge of life with extra inputs of his own. And he kicked himself for where that got him at the moment. He not only ended up killing himself in the past, but also ended up stranded in this ridiculous time void.

Which made him realize something so great, he felt his stomach drop like a brick.

If his past-self was dead now, _why was he still alive_? According to the rules of time-travel, he should have been obliterated by now, blown into non-existence. He needed this question answered so badly, he felt himself seize handfuls of his hair in desperation. What if he were to become something like Jay, ageing endlessly, existing through time ceaselessly?

_Jay!_ He was the root cause of all this suffering! He was the one who had brought upon all these calamities! He had barely formed any more thoughts about Jay, before a bright blue light appeared in the middle of the room, revealing the man of the hour. Speak of the devil and the devil is here. Or rather, _think_ of the devil, and the devil is here.

Abhijeet felt a swooping rage hit him with such magnitude at the sight of Jay, he felt like wiping that silly smile off his face. And Abhijeet did act on his impulse. Catching Jay by his collar harshly and slamming him against the wall with all his might, while pinning him to the wall at the same time, Abhijeet yelled.

"What have you done! LOOK AT WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!"

Jay raised an eyebrow towards Abhijeet. Apparently, even though the ferocity by which Abhijeet had slammed him into the wall should have either knocked him out or maimed his back seriously, Jay remained unaffected. Taking off Abhijeet's hand from his coat as though it were just a stranded feather, Jay straightened his coat out and sat on the cardboard box that was inhabited by Abhijeet some time back.

"This is all your doing, not mine." Abhijeet opened him mouth for a hot retort but closed it again.

The same thing continued in a series for more than half a dozen times, before Abhijeet accepted defeat, and crashed on one of the cardboard boxes, his head in his hands. His body was trembling, but no tears escaped his eyes. He was emotionally and physically drained out. His body hurt like as though someone had pounded him with iron-clad fists continuously, and his back felt as though he had fallen from an airplane, only to hit the ground on his back, the effect of it triggered by his collapsing on the ground from a few hours ago.

Jay walked towards him and put his hand on Abhijeet's shoulder. He took it as a good sign that Abhijeet did not throw it off. Jay sat next to him in a patient silence before Abhijeet looked up and initiated the conversation.

"Why am I still alive? I mean, if I'm dead in my own past, how am I still alive?" Jay smiled.

"The severity of your actions and the circumstances under which you changed your past are the reasons why you are still alive. The time line takes twenty four hours to seal in cases like this. From the moment you changed your past to twenty fours post that is all you have before you become non-existent."

"But Jay, there must be some way I can reverse all this with." Jay now looked amused.

"Exactly how many times do you intend on changing your past, Abhijeet? Wasn't once enough?" Abhijeet looked abashed. He felt his cheeks grow warm, and he had a shred of self-respect that told him to do better than argue back. Jay got up and shook Abhijeet's hand before saying.

"I've divided this entire journey of yours into three phases, two of which you've already completed. Before trying out anything that could reverse your situation, you need to complete the journey. Good bye and good luck! Luck is something you're going to need in a lot of abundance." Winking at him, Jay disappeared once more in a mist of blue light, and Abhijeet removed the pocket watch and stared at it morosely.

He had already faced the worst. How worse could this get now? Abhijeet snapped open the watch. There once again, was a similar blue orb waiting to be put into use. However, this time, the orb had several things written like a series of instructions.

_14:25,  
12 hours time suspension,  
8670 hours time void leap,  
7 simultaneous turns._

Abhijeet sighed. He knew that he had to get this journey done with as fast as possible for it was only then that he could think about the prospect of doing something about his _situation_. He was atleast that trained in his duty to know whether a person was speaking the truth or no or whether something was being concealed, and he was certain and Jay had withheld a lot of information when Abhijeet had asked about re-altering his past. Even though Abhijeet didn't feel like he deserved the chance to reverse the mess he had brought upon himself, he knew that it was possible. He had seen it in Jay's eyes.

Abhijeet opened the stopper and twirled the stopper in seven simultaneous turns. But this time, even before he shut the locker, Abhijeet felt his the same sensation of the fusion of colors and sounds and felt himself spin into nothingness.

* * *

Abhijeet felt himself appear seamlessly once again in a dark room. However this time, he knew that he must have been teleported to a longer future as the process of teleportation seemed to have taken longer than usual. He looked around the room once his eyes got accustomed to the darkness around, and he realized that he was in the archive room of the CID Bureau.

He opened the door slightly, where he now saw several officers gathered together. He could hear Freddy and Daya talk animatedly about a case that was going on, while Vivek, Tasha and two other new officers were huddled around them. ACP Pradyuman was nowhere to be seen.

Abhijeet noticed that everyone looked different. He looked older and their fashion styles had also changed considerably. What actually took him back, however, was their behavior. It was as though he was seeing them for the first time or to describe it better, he felt as though the Bureau's atmosphere had become the exact replica of the one during his initial days in the CID Bureau post his accident.

The Bureau was serious and the atmosphere was tense at its peak. Just then, ACP Pradyuman entered the Bureau. A very eerie silence fell around the Bureau as everyone sensed his presence. Daya went forward and hugged ACP Pradyuman, followed by Freddy and the others. ACP Pradyuman shook hands warmly with the two new officers. As soon as everyone sat down, Daya initiated the conversation.

"It's good to see you after a long time, sir. The Bureau misses you."

"Yes, it does feel good to be back here. Reminds me of all the good, old days."

"We miss you a lot as well."

"I remember you kids as well. But I've heard that you've been fulfilling your duties as the new ACP brilliantly, Daya. You've shouldered them very well." Daya nodded his head, but his face was completely blank. It was as though someone had robbed him of his emotions.

"I've even heard a lot of praises about you from the higher authorities, Freddy."

"Sir, with great power comes greater responsibility. And even Abhijeet sir wanted to-" Freddy stopped talking abruptly. Everyone had an immobilized expression on their faces and Daya particularly had turned slightly red. It was as though Freddy has spoken a Taboo word.

Stammering several times to cover up a mistake he knew could not be covered, he finally decided to accept it and ploughed on. "Sorry sir, I don't know why I- I mentioned him. Maybe it's his first death anniversary today, that's why I…" Freddy had a guilty expression on his face now, while his eyes had already turned moist.

Tasha and Vivek too had the same expression, while the two new officers had sad looks on their faces mingled with a bit of curiosity for the events unfolding before them. ACP Pradyuman looked at Daya, who very strangely, seemed to look angrier by the minute. ACP Pradyuman shrugged his shoulder painfully, while he let a tear slip from his eyes.

"One year… that's a lot of time."

Nobody could find a suitable expression or a word of condolence to offer, so they all sat quietly, deep in their thoughts. Daya got up abruptly and turned to everyone.

"Since there's no new case come in today and we've filed in the reports for all the remaining ones, you all can take the day off. Sir-", Daya now looked towards ACP Pradyuman, "-it was great seeing you here after all this time. Carry on, I, uh, need to make an important call."

Without giving anyone a second glance, he rushed out of the Bureau, while everyone gave each other helpless glances.

Abhijeet turned his head away from the crack. So, he was standing in a future where his death had completed one year. And the assumptions he managed to draw out from the conversation was disturbing. _Very_ disturbing.

He noticed that Freddy's tone, body language and facial expressions had undergone a drastic change. It was as though someone else was sitting there with Freddy's face. His kind and genial eyes had a very lost look about it now, and his lips barely knew what it was to smile. His body language had become much more rigid and his voice had a strange monotony about it.

Vivek and Tasha on the other hand, didn't look like half themselves during these free times in the Bureau. On any occasion that didn't demand their professionalism, the Bureau would be alight with their mischief, which had the essence of youth imbued in them. Now, all that remained of their youth was a maturity that didn't belong to their age.

Abhijeet noticed Tasha twiddling a ring, on her left hand's ring finger continuously, and judging by her and Vivek's body language, he assumed that Vivek had popped the question to her, and they were now committed in a relationship. He was happy that Vivek had taken the initiative and he was the perfect match for Tasha in all ways. Atleast one good thing seemed to have come out from this.

But that was the _only_ good thing.

Every time Abhijeet thought about the fact that ACP Pradyuman had either retired or had been transferred (though judging by the tones used, he was ready to bet on the former), gave him shivers. He could just not imagine his father-figure retiring from his duty, and the circumstances behind it made him feel even more insignificant.

The two new officers seemed good enough to him. From what he had heard during the initial conversations, the male officer's name was Sachin, while the female one's was Kajal. He hoped direly that the two of them would provide sufficient distraction and would manage to bring all his broken family members to their original selves.

But whenever he thought about Daya, his heart seemed to fall off altogether. He had become the worst transformation, much worse than he had imagined to be. Happy as he was that his friend had been promoted to the position of ACP, he felt that the price paid for it was way too high. Walking towards the dusty window of the archive, he looked down at the car parking area that was fully visible from the window, without really looking at it, until something caught his attention.

Abhijeet saw Daya ear the parking lot, walking in furious paces, trying to work out his anger, but before he could move further in those same measured paces, Daya kicked the Qualis parked there with such force, the Qualis trembled slightly. Daya threw his hands over the bonnet of the car and held it as a support for his body, while Abhijeet could distinctly sense him shivering.

Whether Daya had felt actually something or it was just a co-incidence, at that moment Daya turned up and looked at the window through which Abhijeet had been looking at him. Abhijeet quickly turned himself aside to hide himself from Daya's sight, and felt tense. After two minutes, however, when Abhijeet realized that no Daya had come charging up into the Bureau, he took his chance and peeked out of the window once more, albeit this time more cautiously.

Daya had gone back to his same position. Abhijeet assumed that Daya must have thought his seeing him to be a trick of his eyes. After a few moments, Daya unlocked the Qualis, sat into it and drove the car away, leaving Abhijeet staring at an unoccupied parking lot once more, his mind travelling through several things.

* * *

**Phew! :D I decided to leave this chapter at this point because this was originally supposed to be a very long update, but I think had I kept all the aspects of the chapter, it may have gone up to 9000 words. So instead, I'll be dividing this chapter into either three or four parts depending upon how long the chapter goes. :)**

**Constructive criticism will be more than welcome, and do please review and tell me how the chapter has turned out. :)**


	6. Chapter 6: An Insight Into How It Felt

**Chapter 6: An Insight Into How It Felt**

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**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews and views! Since there are barely any reviews this time, despite the numerous views, I think I can give you'll special thanks for your continued support. :)**

**Krittika: I'm glad that I've atleast managed to resolve your doubt, and I'm going to take it as a good sign that your curiosity is still there regarding the future events of the story. :D Thank you soo much for reviewing! :* Love you dear. :D**

**Rukmani: Reading your review, I think that I basically succeeded in getting one point across. The fact that you felt terrible while reading the future was one of my main motives of the chapter and you've made me succeed. Thank you soo much for your encouraging reviews dear! :D :D Love you. :***

**Naina Mallik: I'm happy that you're curious about what is going to happen next. To be honest, even I am very curious about it. ;) Thank you so much for reviewing and love you dear! :D :***

**Not keeping you'll further now,**

**Happy Reading! :D **

* * *

Abhijeet sat down on a chair in the room, while he could hear the slow voices of all his dear ones in the room. It felt so funny to be this close to them, just a door away to be more precise, and yet they were so fast and so distant. Abhijeet only hoped that no one would enter the room, but even as the thought cropped up, he knew that Jay must have chosen _this_ day for a particular reason. Or maybe, the circumstances were just good enough for him. The irony of his _good_ circumstances.

As time passed on, Abhijeet could hear the voices lessening in the surroundings, which meant that everyone were leaving the Bureau one by one, until no voices could be heard anymore. Abhijeet took out the pocket watch from his coat, and opened it. Two hours had already elapsed since his appearance in the room, and judging by the color of the sky, it must have been 7-7:30 in the evening.

This time, however, when Abhijeet opened the watch, there was not one but three small blue orbs hovering around the dial while a short message could be seen.

_5 hours remaining for timeline alteration seal._

Abhijeet felt as though someone had passed a jolt of current through him. Jay had told him that it took 24 hours for the timeline to seal, and as far as Abhijeet could remember, only seven hours had lapsed - two alone in the store room, and five in the whole shooting and hospital scenario. And as though his mind had gone into overdrive, Abhijeet felt a single sentence float into him mind from the previous instruction the orb had engraved in it.

_12 hours time suspension._

Abhijeet realized where the twelve hours of his time had gone. He had suspended twelve hours of his time to enter the future from a year later. And now that nineteen hours of his time had been taken up, he felt desperate for completing his unknown journey and hurry to try and reverse the fiasco that he had created in the first place. Abhijeet could not understand though how was he supposed to complete three portions of this unknown journey and get away with all of it.

This was a race against time now. This was a matter of life and death.

Closely examining the three orbs, he saw that they had only names written on it. The first orb, which was also shining brighter than the two had the name:

_Senior Inspector Fredricks_

_Half turn_

_8:00_

The second orb had the name:

_ACP Pradyuman_

_Three quarters of a turn_

_9:30_

And the last orb had the name:

_ACP Daya_

_One and a quarter turn_

_11:00_

Abhijeet looked at the three orbs. He could not imagine why Jay had wanted him to meet the three people who he could not even meet his eyes with, let alone talk to them and show his face, but perhaps there must be some reason behind it. Keeping his mind blank while continuously shoving his panic at some remote corner of his mind, Abhijeet opened the stopper of the watch once again, gave it half a turn so that the time matched exactly 8, and shut the stopper.

* * *

Abhijeet once again felt his feat land seamlessly on the ground. On opening his eyes, he realized that the watch had teleported his straight in front of Freddy's house. If Abhijeet was honest with himself, he did not know what he was supposed to do from this point forth, nor did he know why Jay had made him want to meet his boss, best friend, and closest colleague, especially after such a complicated alteration in the timeline. There were n number of things that could go wrong, but maybe all this time, things were _actually_ wrong.

If he were to correct his mistake and poor judgment, he had to begin with apologizing the people who he had hurt the most, even if he went through with this for their best interests in heart. Finally mustering the courage to ring the door bell while trying to convince himself that it was the only way he could go back and alter the timeline, he walked up to the door bell and gave it a push.

Abhijeet didn't have to wait for long, however, as the door opened after a few seconds, revealing a Freddy in his track suit. Freddy had a glass of water in his hand that crashed to the ground on the sight of the former. Words that left Freddy's mouth were incoherent and for a moment, Abhijeet expected Freddy to shout aloud and run around stating that his _aatma _had visited him, but instead Freddy only managed to say one thing.

"Abhijeet sir?"

Abhijeet smiled at him, but Freddy did not smile back at all. Instead, he seemed to have become more suspicious and once the momentary distraction had abated, he looked cold and on guard. He, however, did not speak anything further. Abhijeet took this as his cue to continue.

"Won't you call me inside?" Abhijeet realized instantly that it was a very stupid thing to say. He saw Freddy's hand fly to his gun that was tucked behind the waist band of his track bands. He wouldn't have been surprised if Freddy had already fired the gun.

"Who are you?" Even though Freddy stated the question as rudely and coldly as he could, Abhijeet could see his eyes scanning his own hungrily, to see whether there was _any_ chance that this might actually be _his_ Abhijeet sir.

Even though Abhijeet was trying his best to remain calm, his mind was starting to panic and crack now. This was exactly what he had always feared in life and now that he was being given a taste of what it felt, he felt as though something was steadily dying within him - his will and his resolve to see this through.

A tear slipped from Abhijeet's eye, and his voice cracked when he spoke.

"I deserve this. Just- Just take care of evrybody. I, uh, need to leave." Abhijeet turned his face away. He could not face this anymore. He could not have his loved ones look at him with such accusation in their eyes. Just as he was about to leave, however, Freddy replied.

"Wait. Please come in." Even though Abhijeet could hear the clear hesitation in his voice, there was something in Freddy's eyes that convinced him that Freddy did believe him.

Abhijeet entered the house silently and wiped the tear track from his face hastily. The house was exactly the way it was as he remembered it. The house had a simplicity of its own just like its inhabitants and the same air of warmth in it.

"Where's bhabhiji?"

"She's at her parents' place."

"Oh."

Abhijeet looked at Freddy and smiled once again. Even though not altogether comfortable, Freddy now looked less suspicious than before.

"Sir, would you mind explaining what's happening?" Abhijeet noticed the forced politeness of his tone which he suspected actually had an undercurrent of sarcasm.

Abhijeet felt hurt, but he could not blame Freddy. If any of his loved ones who were no longer alive would have been standing in front of his doorstep one day, he might have not even believed them for a moment. Atleast Freddy was being very flexible here.

Abhijeet did not wait for another minute and plunged into narrative about the incidents from the last few hours, only conveniently leaving out anything got to do with his own personal health.

Once he completed speaking, he took a breath of relief. Speaking about it to someone finally opened up his freezing brain a bit and he felt calm now. It was as though someone had removed the despair from within him.

Freddy looked at Abhijeet with a blank look.

"I can only believe whatever you say on one condition – I need proof."

"Proof? What kind of proof? I can show you the pocket watch if you want me too." Abhijeet was halfway in withdrawing the pocket watch from his coat when Freddy shook his head.

"No, not that kind of proof. I need something that proves that you are indeed our Abhijeet sir."

"What proof do you want me to give you, Freddy?"

"Something that only you know about me. Not even Daya sir or Vivek." Abhijeet looked at him while a momentary surprise flitted across his face, but he calmed down equally soon.

"Your parents are divorced. And because you came from a financially weak background where neither of your praents could support you single-handedly, you've grown up at the mercy of your uncle and aunt. They accepted you but never loved you like their own. And you've been trying to make your way out from that darkness. Your innocence and your laughter are what save you from the demons and are perhaps, your greatest strengths."

Freddy sprang up from his chair as though he had received a shock. Seeing Freddy's reaction, Abhijeet too had a similar reaction and missed a heartbeat. Freddy looked at Abhijeet with tears brimming in his eyes and hugged him with all his might.

Shocked at Freddy's sudden reaction, but controlling his now irregularly throbbing heart, he too returned the hug, while he could hear Freddy crying whole-heartedly over Abhijeet's shoulder. Abhijeet gently made him sit on the couch and gave him some time of his own. Abhijeet was happy to see that atleast there was some part of the old Freddy that was still alive.

Abhijeet would always get angry whenever Freddy tried to relate any case or its mystery with things related to the supernatural, but it was for the first time that day in all these years that he actually appreciated that quality in him. It was his flexibility that made it so easy to talk to him, and it was the only reason why Freddy believed him. Because he was not narrow-minded. He was always open to all aspects.

It took some time for Freddy to finally get a grip over himself. He looked at Abhijeet with a pained expression on his face and muttered.

"What have you done, sir? You have no idea about what we've gone through after your death." Abhijeet flinched at the word _death, _but he now wanted to know the exact picture about what had elapsed after his past-self's death. He wanted to have an insight into how they all actually_ felt_ about it and what they went through.

"Once you passed away, it's like the strength of our team broke by half. ACP sir retired from the team and Daya sir became the next ACP. Daya sir became quite aloof after that, where he could only feel anger. He not only would fall upon harsh over the criminals and suspects but even upon us if we made the slightest of error. It's like even Daya sir died the day you did, because the man with us right now can no longer feel emotions. Only his duty. He's banned talking about you in the Bureau as well and if anyone let slips your name by mistake… God save us all."

Abhijeet remembered the way Daya had reacted to the mention of his name.

"Before resigning, ACP sir recommended my name for the position of Sr. Inspector. And because there was a staff shortage at the moment, they decided to promote me. And even I got into doing my duty properly, for I had a lot to live up to. Atleast Vivek aur Tasha were there as my support during the time but Daya sir… he didn't even have that."

Freddy sighed.

"Three months ago, Vivek proposed to Tasha. They're getting married next year. This is the only shred of happiness that I now have in this cruel and sad world."

Abhijeet nodded his head, while he buried his face into his hands for the umpteenth time that day. He felt lost, confused... alone. Even though he had realized the magnitude of his actions earlier, it was only when he heard it from another's mouth that he realized what had he brought upon himself and the others. He felt dizzy. But he knew that this was not the time for it. There was still plenty to be seen and done.

Getting to his feet unsteadily, Freddy hurriedly caught his arm as the former stumbled. He barely got to expressing his concern when Abhijeet's coat pocket vibrated. Taking out the pocket-watch from his coat, and snapped open the cover, which revealed the two remaining blue orbs floating on the dial, the one with ACP Pradyuman's name shining brighter.

Setting the watch's time to the next co-ordinate, Abhijeet turned to look at Freddy, who only told in one thing in return.

"Our lives are now in your hands, sir. Set everything right as soon as you can. _Please_."

Abhijeet nodded his head as a lump rose to his throat, before hastily shutting close the stopper. At once, he was consumed by a blue light and felt himself being sucked into nothingness amidst the fusion of sounds and colors.

* * *

**There! :D This will be all for now. The next update will be there either by the end of this week or by early next week. :D **

**Sorry for any typos and constructive criticism will be more than welcome! :D**


	7. Chapter 7: Things Happen For A Reason

**Chapter 7: Things Always Happen For a Reason**

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**A/N: Hey there everyone! :D Thank you all for the lovely reviews and views, there were really encouraging! :D There is only one more chapter left in the story now, and seeing my speed in updating I think I may update it by the end of this week. ;)**

**kkkloveu: Your review was truly inspiring and encouraging dear! :D The motivation I was lacking had now returned with double the force with just your review. ;) ;) And as long as you are liking my story, I'm really happy. :D**

**rukmani: Thank you soooo much dear! :* And I am happy ki you have been enjoying what I've bee writing.**

**Krittika: Thank you so much dear! :D And sorry, you will have to wait for the nect chapter to see Daya's reaction on the whole, though I have given a sneak peek of how it's going to start. (Spolier alert. :P)**

**Naina Mallik: Thank you sooo much sweetheart! :D I'm really glad that you have been liking my work so far. :D**

**Khalsa: Thabk you sooo much. :D**

**Aditi: Thank you very much dear. :D Ending ke liye toh you will have to wait and see. :)**

**Khushi: Thank you soooo much sweety! :D**

**Not keeping you'll for long, **

**Happy Reading! :D**

* * *

The blue light disappeared from around Abhijeet and he found himself now standing in front of his father-figure's house. And with it came a feeling of foreboding. Freddy believing what he had to say was a different story, but ACP Pradyuman was a different story all together. ACP Pradyuman survived and did everything and believed everything that could be proved by logic. And what had happened in these few hours had no possible logic at all.

But if Jay had wanted him to come here, there must have been a reason for it. He could not for the love of it think about how was he supposed to go about with things with his boss, but now he felt desperate to explain his actions to everyone so that he could let them know why what had happened was a mistake and was an accident, nothing more.

Taking unsure steps initially, Abhijeet strengthened his resolve to see things through properly and walked up to the front door of the house and rang the bell. This time, Abhijeet had to wait for some time as the light were put on all of a sudden, which meant that his boss must have been asleep.

Opening the front door, ACP Pradyuman's look of genuine curiosity turned into one of shock and loathing.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Abhijeet."

"Who Abhijeet?"

"How many ABhijeets do you know who have the exact same face!" Abhijeet lost his cool. He didn't know why, but he felt very irritated.

"Don't try to act smart with me or else"

"Or else what, sir?"

ACP Pradyuman pointed a gun at him which he had been hiding behind his back. Abhijeet had a reflex reaction and produced a similar service gun from inside his coat pocket. ACP Pradyuman had a smirk on his face.

"If you are really Abhijeet then why are you holding a gun at me?"

Abhijeet turned red and lowered his gun while returning it to its original place. He now looked at his father figure with a strange numbness. He was tired. He wanted to sleep. He didn't want to do this anymore. He found his new found resolve crumble as soon as it had formed.

Abhijeet caught hold of ACP Pradyuman's hand which had the gun in it and pointed it straight at his head, so that the gun was now placed on a point-blank range.

"If you want to kill me, alright. Go ahead. But just once, just once, look into my eyes. If you can't see your Abhijeet in them, you are free to shoot me. I won't even pt up a fight."

ACP Pradyuman stared at him hard for a several moments. It were more than several times when his hand twitched over the trigger, but he decided against it.

Finally making his mind up, he removed his gun from Abhijeet's head.

"Come in."

It was an order, not a request, so Abhijeet quickly entered the house before there could be any change of mind. His boss' house like Freddy's, was exactly the same as he remembered it. Apparently, not everything had changed in this one year.

Abhijeet quietly stood beside ACP Pradyuman.

"Why are you still standing? SIt." It was not spoken in an unkind tone, yet it had a very foreign feel about it. Abhijeet seated himself down almost too eagerly, as his back was now giving him a very hard time. He could not understand why his back had started hurting so much after 3 weeks, but he realized almost immediately that he had exerted himself enough to trigger the pain.

A relaxed sigh of pain left Abhijeet's throat as his back came in contact with the soft backrest of the sofa. He felt like going to sleep then and there, but he knew that was not an option. He however, shut his eyes for a few moments before snapping them open, remembering where he was seated. Abhijeet however saw ACP Pradyuman staring at him with a very undecipherable expression on his face.

"What's wrong with your back?"

"Nothing, sir, I-" ACP Pradyuman smiled.

"You haven't changed a bit."

"No sir, I"

"I know that you were electrocuted during the time you were kidnapped. I saw the wounds. I was the one who cremated you."

Abhijeet looked stunned. Hearing all this made the entire scenario extremely surreal to him. To be alive and yet to be spoken about being cremated was a very uneasy experience. And yet, he was more than convinced now that everything that had happened in the past few hours were real and had really taken place.

Sighing, Abhijeet looked at his father-figure. Even though in retirement, Abhijeet was happy to say that ACP Pradyuman had maintained himself excellently. On the contrary he looked much fitter and in shape than during his hectic work hours. As though ACP Pradyuman had read his mind, he spoke.

"I know how to live life, Abhijeet. After so many years so loneliness, you eventually get accustomed to it."

"Why did you take your retirement then?" Many people would have considered this question a bit bold considering the circumstances that Abhijeet was in, but he felt otherwise, and so did ACP Pradyuman.

"You break the strength of my back and then have the temerity to ask me this?" Abhijeet felt tears fighting their way up to his eyes. He turned his face away. He could not face this man anymore. "Abhijeet, I'm asking you something. Will you not even meet my eyes now?"

Abhijeet looked at him even though he did not meet his gaze. Looking at his lap, where tears had already started to drop, Abhijeet spoke in a hoarse voice.

"You won't believe me, sir."

"Abhijeet, I shouldn't even be believing that you're alive and sitting right on his couch, not when we all saw you-" ACP Pradyuman left the sentence midway, as the weight of the sentence was too much to bear. Taking deep breaths, ACP Pradyuman continued.

"Tell me, Abhijeet. I'm waiting." His tone had finally now taken the fatherly voice that Abhijeet so needed to hear, that would finally be a ray of light in his lost, dark and winding path.

Abhijeet looked at his father-figure, trying to make up his mind about something. Realising that he hadn't spoken anything for 5 minutes, he quickly took a deep breath and told him everything, this time not leaving out any details at all.

When Abhijeet recalling his tale, he thought that he would be relieving himself of all the forebodings and ill-feelings he was having regarding the whole situation, but he was wrong.

Now that he had voiced out every single thought running in his mind, he did not feel any better. On the contrary, he felt his minf going into a frenzy. He felt like running and shouting and getting rid of all the things that were eating his mind out and causing him so much distress, but instead it seemed to implode inside him, making him feel severely nauseous.

ACP Pradyuman looked at Abhijeet deep in thought for several minutes, before he finally spoke.

"If anyone else were to tell me all this, there is no way on Earth that I would even give it a shred of thought. But I also know that apart from myself, if there is anyone who does not believe in things like that, it's you."

Abhijeet could see his boss's mind running quickly. He knew that his boss himself was having a very hard time in believing everything that was just told to him. Finally making his mind up, he spoke in an unsure voice.

"Show me your left knee." Abhijeet looked taken aback for a moment, before he realized what his boss wanted.

Pulling his pant upto his knee level, ACP Pradyuman looked at his knee where a very badly healed scar could be seen. Looking satisfied finally, he nodded at Abhijeet, who quickly covered his scar away.

"Is this wound always this bad?"

"Yes, sir. This wound reminds me each day of what I have lost in life, and what I am to save."

Giving a meaningful look at his boss who understood what Abhijeet was trying to imply, the latter looked at him steadily, a defiance finally erupting within him that provided a proper justification for his actions.

"There are a lot of ways to save your loved ones, Abhijeet. You've lost everyone in spite of all the hell you went through. And Daya-" ACP Pradyuman shut his eyes, "-you've killed him just like that. He walks around like an empty shell, a shell who believes that he's respobsible for your death. He will never be able to trust anyone again, Abhijeet, never."

Abhijeet looked at his boss. He knew what he was saying was absolutely right, but he needed someone to understand his intentions.

"But sir, I never meant to-"

"I know that, Abhijeet, but you don't have any idea about what you've done. Abhijeet, things happen for a reason in our life, a reason that's for our own good. We don't always understand the reason behind it but it's always for the greater good. Remember that."

"You are correct, sir. We are so involved in seeing the wrongs that have happened to us that we fail to see the reason behind them as well. I was an idiot to believe that I could change the past for our betterment, to think that I could make decisions better than the Almighty. I was insane, sir, insane."

Now that he had finally accepted his mistake and his misjudgement, a strange calm was overcoming him, obliterating everything from his mind. His eyes shut without consciously doing so, and he felt himself drift away in a peacefull bliss.

* * *

Abhijeet felt his body vibrating and at the same time something tapping his face simultaneously. On opening his eyes, he realised that his head had rolled off to one side of his shoulder amd the thing tapping his face was ACP Pradyuman.

Getting him gently on his feet, ACP Pradyuman asked him, concern loaded in it.

"Abhijeet? Are you alright?"

"Yes… Yes, sir. I don't know what happened, I just..." Feeling disoriented from his surroundings, he felt the same vibration course through his body.

Finding the source of the vibration, that happened to be the pocket-watch vibrating angrily and impatiently, he quickly snapped it open to see the last blue orb shining powerfully. Setting the stopper on the desired result, he looked at ACP Pradyuman, who gave him a look that shared a thousand thoughts and emotions. Nodding his head in understanding, he shut the stopper and was once again consumed whole by the whole light.

* * *

Abhijeet opened his eyes, and now found himself standing at the last stop of his journey. For the third time that night, Abhijeet walked forward without thinking anything. Only two hours were remaining and time was going as fast as slipping sand. He rang the door bell quickly, hoping that he could quickly get away from this twisted future, where nothing seemed right at all.

The door opened within a matter of seconds. However, Abhijeet put his hands over his head as Daya opened the door with his gun pointed straight at him. Daya's eyes widened in shock while Abhijeet gasped in surprise. Daya's reaction had taken him off guard.

But Daya did not loosen the grip from his gun. Instead he took several steps inside the house, his gun in the same position. Abhijeet felt annoyed. He did not have time for games. Time was passing by way too fast and he needed to correct the timeline as soon as he could. Without thinking anything about what Daya would say or do, Abhijeet entered the house and shut the door behind him and walked up to where Daya was standing.

The shutting of the door seemed to snap Daya out from his shock. He now had a murderous look on his face. Throwing his gun aside, he asked in as cold a voice as he could.

"Who are you?" Abhijeet was fed up of hearing this question for the third time now. At first, the question hit him like an arrow in his heart, but now that the question was repeated every single time he went to his loved one's house, he felt thoroughly disgruntled and irritated.

"Daya, it's me, Abhijeet. I-" But before Abhijeet could proceed any further, he felt Daya's hand hit his face with such force, he was knocked off his feet and fell straight on the floor, his head and back making a very crude and painful contact with the floor.

Abhijeet felt the breath knocked out from his lungs, while he could see stars dancing in front of his eyes. In that moment, Abhijeet truly knew what it meant standing on the opposite side of a very _angry_ Daya. He would always make fun of the fact that criminals would bow their heads against their will and confess their crimes just by a slap from Daya, and in a way would be very proud about it. But now that he was on the receiving end of it, he actually appreciated the magnitude.

He felt something trickling down his cheek, which he knew must have undoubtedly been blood, while the part where Daya's hand had made contact with his cheek was burning and paining. Abhijeet only managed to see a blurry silhouette of Daya hovering above him, before darkness engulfed him once more.

* * *

**Lo! :D I think this will be a suitable cliffhangar for now? What will happen next? Will abhjeet manage to get out from this unscathed? Will he manhe to re-alter the timeline before it's too late? Will he manage to sort out the mess he has gotten into? **

**Well to find out your answers, stay tuned to What If? ;) ;) **

**Sorry for the typos and constructive criticism will be more than welcome. :D**


	8. Chapter 8:Being Slapped Awake to Reality

**Chapter 8: Being Slapped Awake to Reality**

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**A/N: Hey there! :D This is the finale chapter of the story. The response to this story has been very heartening and thank you to all the reviewers and viewers for your continued support! :D :D **

**kkkloveu, rukmani, Krittika, naina mallik, khalsa, Khushi, Aditi, dev, aashi's hone40, Rajvigirl, shrestha, ranju, Rajvigirl, pinki, and all my lovely guests - thanking you'll for your appreciation of my work and for your unfaltering support just with words is not enough. You guys deserve huge hugs from my side, along with my most heartfelt gratitude for the love you'll have given and showered me with. :D :D Love you'll loads! :* :D**

**Not keeping you'll long now,**

**Happy Reading! :D**

* * *

Abhijeet felt something splash on his face. He wrinkled his eyes, as it had disrupted his peaceful bliss. And all of a sudden, he felt a very strong ache in his back and on his cheek. He could not fathom what had caused him so much pain, but he knew he would have to open his eyes to get his answer. Even though he didn't want to.

Opening his eyes after blinking several times, Abhijeet looked around to get a better look at his surroundings. The moment his eyes snapped open however, his mind went into overdrive and only one though struck him. Daya.

Looking at his side, he saw Daya kneeling beside him with a glass of water in his hand and a look of concern on his face. Abhijeet made to get up but his back felt very comfortable on the surface it was despite the pain. With a jolt, he realised that he was on the couch. The moment Daya saw that Abhijeet was alright, his look of concern changed into one of sarcasm.

"Ah, come back into your senses? Good."

Abhijeet tried to sit up on the couch, but it only resulted in his feeling dizzy again, so he decided against it. Seeing this, Daya smiled inspite of himself.

"Wait." Daya went to the kitchen, and returned back with an ice pack and a first aid box. Abhijeet felt his face hurt him severely, and felt very angry at the way Daya was smiling and cheerfully moving about.

Daya settled down on his knees once again, and removed a piece of cotton and gauze along with an antiseptic ointment and kept it aside. Pouring some water from the glass into his cupped palm, he gently washed the wound on Abhijeet's cheek that had now blossomed into colors of blue, black, green and purple.

Abhijeet clenched his fists and gritted his teeth to try and stop himself from hissing with pain, as the water stung his wound. Once Daya had finished with cleaning the wound, he gently applied some antiseptic with the cotton and gave Abhijeet a gauze to hold over the wound, so that it could be covered for some time without any infection happening.

Once the whole ordeal was done, Daya re-arranged everything back into its place and knelt on the floor once again, this time with a glass of electrolytes.

"Have this, you'll feel better."

"I don't want-"

"I didn't ask for your permission, I told you to have it."

"No, I-" Daya gave him such a cold look that Abhijeet shuddered.

"Alright. Give the wound and then come to heal it." Abhijeet muttered under his breath, but for his misfortune, he was loud enough so that Daya heard what he had just said.

"I'm your friend, after all." Abhijeet looked abashed. Quickly drinking the glass of electrolytes before any further argument and arrows of sarcasm could be showered at each other. Once he finished draining it down, however, he did not feel any better. On the contrary he felt more nauseous.

"How do you feel?"

"Brilliant, you know. Like there's beautiful wind blowing across my face." Daya rolled his eyes.

"If you do things like that, you are bound to pay its price as well."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Abhijeet did not remember telling Daya anything related to his time-travel story. Now that he thought about it, he suddenly felt very weird about the fact that Daya had been treating him properly and the cold, beastly look had vanished from his eyes.

"How did you-?"

"After you lost consciousness, I didn't know whether it was all real or I was just hallucinating. That's why I contacted ACP sir and he explained the whole thing out to me. He convinced me that he'd verified you completely and was certain that you are our Abhijeet. Well, not exactly _our Abhijeet, _but a time-displaced one."

Abhijeet nodded his head.

"So..."

"So, what?"

"Will you please care to enlighten me as to what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Looks like you really hit your head bad." Abhijeet only scowled in return.

"ACP sir tells me that you only wanted to change your past because in the original sequence of events, I was the one who got shot in place of you. Is that true?" Abhijeet nodded his head.

"May I as you why?

"What do you mean by 'why'?"

"If I was the one shot, then why did you alter the timeline? As far as ACP sir tells me, I survived it. Then what was the problem?"

"That bullet wasn't yours to take, it was mine. You took my own share of pain upon you."

"And since when has there been 'your share of pain' and 'my share of pain', Abhijeet? And that's it? That's why you went through with this- this insanity?" Daya looke shocked and the same beastly look was returning to his eyes once again. Abhijeet faltered.

"I… I… Never mind, you won't understand." Daya raised his eyebrow. Abhijeet gave an irritable huff and continued.

"I could not see you in that pain! You don't know what I've been through when the doctor said that you had very little time. I was guilty and broken. I was responsible for your pain because had you not come to save me, none of this would have happened. After being discharged from the hospital, I could see the panic in your eyes. You remain detached the whole day and you barely talk. You keep yourself to your work because I know that the incident haunts you when your mind is vacant. I could not see any of it! That's why I decided that if I were not to be a part of your life then no one would have to bear so much."

Daya looked outraged. But also he had a look of slight triumph on his face. He managed to extract the_ real_ reason of why Abhijeet went to all the trouble and endless complications to alter the past.

"I won't ask you what you were thinking when you said all this because you always keep thinking stuff like this. But I just want to ask you one thing – when you met ACP sir and Freddy today, what did you feel? Were they happy without your presence? Were their lives better without you? Do you think that you've achieved something big by saving my life? Do you think that I've living a peaceful life when each day, I only die with the guilt of the fact that I could not save you in spite of all my efforts? I want an answer, Abhijeet! If you've thought so much about our wellbeing, then I'm sure that you've thought about all this too. I'm waiting, Abhijeet, I'm waiting."

"I was wrong, alright! There, I said it!" Abhijeet now sprang to his feet angrily, the ice pack and gauze forgotten, while disregarding the severe bout of nausea and dizziness that accompanied his move. He now spoke in a demented and frenzied desperation. "Why doesn't anyone understand what I'm going through! Everyone is hellbent on proving the fact that I'm wrong."

"Abhijeet, you aren't wrong, the circumstances are!" Daya also now sprang up to his feet. "But that doesn't mean that you try to change your past!" Calming himself down marginally, he now walked towards Abhijeet and put a hand on his shoulder. Abhijeet's shoulder sagged.

"Daya, believe me, I never ment to hurt you, none of you. I just wanted to be the one who bore the brunt of the bullet. I did not know that so much would happen, that I would actually die." Daya smiled at him gently now.

"Abhijeet, that's why everything happens for a reason. We don't know why things happen when they do, but it's always for our good. I hope you've got this point straight in your head now."

Abhijeet looked at Daya and nodded bleakly. Before he could say anything however, he felt his pocket-watch vibrate, but this time very mildly. Taking it out, Abhijeet opened the cover where a light blue orb pulsated and floated over the dial. The read the following instructions.

_1:30_

_16 simultaneous reserve turns_

Abhijeet opened the stopper and set the time as per the co-ordinates. He realized with a sudden pang in his heart that he just had thirty more minutes in his hand. He must have been knocked out cold of about an hour as he was confident that his and Daya's conversation had not gone up to more than half and hour. Quickly shutting the stopper, he took one glance at Daya and hoped against hope that he would be able to sort out all the fiasco that he had so imprudently created.

* * *

Abhijeet once again opened his eyes, and this time, found himself standing at the backstage of the auditorium. He however, was standing outside the backdoor of the backstage. Almost as soon as he got adjusted to this surrounding, he could hear voices from inside. Creaking open the door just a bit, he saw his former-self with Jay in the room, while his former-self had caught him harshly by the collar. Abhijeet didn't have to see what happened next. He knew.

This was the moment where his past, present and future met, at an intersection point, at the most crucial junction of the timeline.

Abhijeet just waited outside the door. He knew that it was in a matter of minutes that the moment would come. As much as he resented the fact that Daya would have to go through the painful ordeal, he realized that in a sadistic, twisted way, it was best for everyone. And he would never dare to make such a bold move again for as long as he was alive.

Sighing, he took the support of the wall that eased off a bit of pain from Abhijeet's back due to its coolness. Abhijeet shut his eyes, and let himself loose into the world of darkness he knew he would be consumed into very soon. Some of the effect of the electrolytes had already worn off in a matter of a minutes, and his body throbbed with pain. He wished he could have taken the ice pack from Daya's house with him, but it was too late.

As soon as the voices stopped from within the room, Abhijeet got back on his guard. Any minute now, his former self would run out from the door and try to interfere with the timeline. And he had just the plan of how to handle this.

As soon as the former-Abhijeet stormed out from the door, Abhijeet tackled him easily and pinned him to wall. The former-Abhijeet struggled and tried to trash his limbs around without making noise, but failed miserably. Abhijeet's purpose right now was much stronger than his former self's.

Dragging him back to the backstage by having locked former-Abhijeet's hand behind his back, Abhijeet threw him on the floor in exasperation, while he sat on one of the cardboard boxes, fagged out. The effort from the past few minutes had drained him of the little bit energy that the electrolytes had provided in his body.

"What on-? Who are you?" Abhijeet practically growled with frustration. He had had _enough_ of this question!

"Do you want to guess?" Abhijeet put his question with so much sarcasm that the former-Abhijeet felt embarrassed.

"Arre you from my future?"

"Yes." The former-Abhijeet still looked half in disbelief of what was happening.

"What are you doing here? I mean, have you already changed-?" Abhijeet didn't have time for all this. He needed to get the job done as soon as he could.

"Look, we cannot change the past. The consequences are too dangerous." Now that the former-Abhijeet had calmed down, Abhijeet left him, yet keeping an eye on him just in case.

"But why? Why can't we save Daya? He should bear the pain of our-"

"Look, I know what you are talking about. I'm not getting any pleasure of putting Daya's life on line either, but it's for everyone's best. I've seen everything. This is best for everyone." The former-Abhijeet looked aghast, while the other Abhijeet looked at his pocket watch. Just fifteen minutes more.

"But how can I believe you? That you are from my future? You can be an imposter as well." The former-Abhijeet couldn't say Rocky's name because the latter had already climbed on the stage. That left out the particular option. On the other hand, Abhijeet rolled his eyes at his former self. People always called him a stubborn-head, which he felt at times were too harsh, but today, he realized what people truly meant by it.

Abhijeet knew that it was a matter of minutes before the timeline was reconstructed properly and everything was reversed back to normal. He looked at his former-self and saw that fire in his eyes that was usually associated with a desire to do something reckless.

"Look, I'm not here to convince you of anything. If you want to believe me, fine. If not, do whatever you feel right. But you'll have to face me first." The former-Abhijeet did not reply back. He seemed to have been brooding. After a few moemnts, he abruptly asked.

"What happened to your face?"

"This?", Abhijeet touched the wound on his face lightly, "This is the gift of the eccentricity I've just done and what I'm stopping you from doing as well. Daya has given this with a lot of love."

The former-Abhijeet looked shocked.

"D... Daya did this? But why? And how did he find you?"

"Actually, I-" But Abhijeet stopped speaking abruptly. At that moment, the past-Abhijeet had entered the room. Both the time traveling Abhijeets fell quiet, and watched the proceedings keenly. The former-Abhijeet half turned his face away, while the present Abhijeet watched keenly. Snapping the pocket-watch open for what he hoped to be the_ last_ time, he saw the time. There were only two minutes remaining for the timeline to seal.

Both the Abhijeet's now waited with baited breaths as Rocky had taken ACP Pradyuman on gun point. And as the normal course of circumstances had it, ACP Pradyuman shouted 'Daya!'. But, before Daya could do anything, the past-Abhijeet threw himself over Rocky and both of them got into a scuffle over the gun. The former-Abhijeet looked confused, but Abhijeet shouted in fright.

"No! This cannot happen!" Practically trembling from head to foot, he knew that there was no way he would be able to get out from this mess. He was doomed. And just then, three gunshots sounded.

Abhijeet couldn't see what had happened, as at that moment a strong blue light emanated from his body and began consuming his body slowly, throwing him into non-existence, while Abhijeet's screams of protest rented the air.

* * *

"NO! NOOOO... AARGH!"

Abhijeet fell off his bed while screaming on top of his voice. He managed to catch himself on time, however, before his head hit the ground. Breathing unevenly due to the combined reason of almost falling off his bed and his nightmare, Abhijeet settled himself over the bed once again, while his hand unconsciously travelled up his chest, trying to ease off his throbbing heart. Shaking his head violently to rid his mind of the bizarre dream that had just wrecked havoc, he looked the clock on his bed-stand table. 4AM.

Sighing in relief, he made himself comfortable on the bed, happy about the fact that he still had three hours of blissful sleep in his hand. He settled himself back to sleep once again, this time hoping for something nice and pleasant to dream about, rather than alternate timelines and pocket-watches, but with one last thought lingering behind his mind related to his dream.

_We dream to give ourselves hope. To stop dreaming - well, that's like saying you can never change your fate._

* * *

**There! Now, the ending of this story may be unexpected to many of you'll or you'll may have expected something bigger and much more dramatic, but this was what I found practical enough to use as a climax. :)**

**Sorry for any typos, and constructive criticisms will be more than welcome! :D :D**

**Until we meet next,**

**Take care and stay blessed.**


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